Lot
150

MADE IN CHINA
The Hodroff Collection of Chinese Export Porcelain is one of the largest and finest collections formed over the past forty years, and Leo and Doris Hodroff have been incredibly generous about sharing their pieces with museums. Many of the pieces in this sale were exhibited in Made in China: Export Porcelain from the Leo and Doris Hodroff Collection at Winterthur. This traveling exhibit showcased approximately 150 objects drawn from the Leo and Doris Hodroff Collection at Winterthur and from the Hodroffs' private collection, and was designed to relate the history of export porcelain from the beginning of direct importation of export porcelain into Europe in the early 1500s to its eventual fall from fashion around 1850.

Made in China opened at Winterthur in the spring of 2005 and traveled to seven venues: the Reeves Center at Washington and Lee University (Virginia), the Gibbes Museum (South Carolina), the Long Beach Museum of Art (California), the Vero Beach Museum of Art (Florida), the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art (Toronto), the Society of the Four Arts (Florida), and the Mint Museum (North Carolina). I would like to think that the exhibit met its goal of giving visitors an appreciation for Chinese export porcelain and a general understanding of its history and design.

Working on this exhibit and its accompanying catalog, which was written with David Sanctuary Howard, a leading authority on export porcelain and a long-time advisor to the Hodroffs, was a tremendous pleasure. I know it will remain one of the highlights of what I hope will be a long career of working with ceramics. Each object was not just a great example of the talents of Chinese potters, but was also a little window into the past. Some pieces tell fascinating stories about the workings of the China Trade, which was the beginning of the global trade network we are a part of today. Other pieces illustrate the introduction of new foods and beverages into the European and American diet, such as tea, sauces, and soup. Some pieces are merely beautiful objects that show us why people prized export porcelain so highly.

While part of me is slightly sorry these pieces will not remain in a public collection, I am very pleased that they will provide a new generation of collectors with wonderful objects. I hope their new owners enjoy them as much as I have.

Ronald W. Fuchs IICurator of the Reeves Collection,
Washington and Lee UniversityExhibited in MADE IN CHINA: Export Porcelain from the Leo and Doris Hodroff Collection at Winterthur

A JAPANESE PAINTING ON SILK

A JAPANESE PAINTING ON SILK
19TH CENTURY, INK, COLOR AND GOLD ON SILK, SIGNED KIYO KAWAHARA KEIGA ZU TANTO SHA
Painted by Tanto after Kawahara Keiga with an interior scene from a mansion in Nagasaki, depicting European and Japanese gentlemen seated about a table and taking drink, attended by three Japanese maidens and a servant, a small dog jumping in the foreground
18 x 27 in. (45.7 x 68.6 cm.), within a wooden frame with silk-matting

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Pre-Lot Text

MADE IN CHINA
The Hodroff Collection of Chinese Export Porcelain is one of the largest and finest collections formed over the past forty years, and Leo and Doris Hodroff have been incredibly generous about sharing their pieces with museums. Many of the pieces in this sale were exhibited in Made in China: Export Porcelain from the Leo and Doris Hodroff Collection at Winterthur. This traveling exhibit showcased approximately 150 objects drawn from the Leo and Doris Hodroff Collection at Winterthur and from the Hodroffs' private collection, and was designed to relate the history of export porcelain from the beginning of direct importation of export porcelain into Europe in the early 1500s to its eventual fall from fashion around 1850.

Made in China opened at Winterthur in the spring of 2005 and traveled to seven venues: the Reeves Center at Washington and Lee University (Virginia), the Gibbes Museum (South Carolina), the Long Beach Museum of Art (California), the Vero Beach Museum of Art (Florida), the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art (Toronto), the Society of the Four Arts (Florida), and the Mint Museum (North Carolina). I would like to think that the exhibit met its goal of giving visitors an appreciation for Chinese export porcelain and a general understanding of its history and design.

Working on this exhibit and its accompanying catalog, which was written with David Sanctuary Howard, a leading authority on export porcelain and a long-time advisor to the Hodroffs, was a tremendous pleasure. I know it will remain one of the highlights of what I hope will be a long career of working with ceramics. Each object was not just a great example of the talents of Chinese potters, but was also a little window into the past. Some pieces tell fascinating stories about the workings of the China Trade, which was the beginning of the global trade network we are a part of today. Other pieces illustrate the introduction of new foods and beverages into the European and American diet, such as tea, sauces, and soup. Some pieces are merely beautiful objects that show us why people prized export porcelain so highly.

While part of me is slightly sorry these pieces will not remain in a public collection, I am very pleased that they will provide a new generation of collectors with wonderful objects. I hope their new owners enjoy them as much as I have.

Ronald W. Fuchs IICurator of the Reeves Collection,
Washington and Lee UniversityExhibited in MADE IN CHINA: Export Porcelain from the Leo and Doris Hodroff Collection at Winterthur